Market Updates Today: A day after the market crash following the Budget's provision to hike Securities Transaction Tax (STT), the domestic equity market on Monday reclaimed much of its lost territory. After opening nearly flat, the NSE Nifty rose to the day's high
Airtel Free Subscription: The service was introduced as a special, short-term benefit to enhance Airtel's prepaid plans and give users a taste of premium AI capabilities. Airtel Free Subscription: Bharti Airtel has quietly pulled the plug on one of its most popular digital perks
When it comes to women's empowerment, everyday stories often leave the strongest impact. Recently, a Hyderabad-based man shared an inspiring story after meeting a single mother working as an Uber driver in the city. Suresh Kochattil, who works as a journalist, shared his experience on Facebook
Zoom Security Issues: The US-based video conferencing app Zoom has classified this flaw as “Critical”, giving it a CVSS score of 9.9 out of 10, which makes it one of the most dangerous software vulnerabilities. Zoom Security Issues: If you often use Zoom for work meetings
In a significant hardening of its diplomatic and strategic posture, India has categorically rejected the authority of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague regarding the long-standing Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) dispute. As hearings continue in the Netherlands
Unaccounted cash row: No bar on Lok Sabha forming panel to probe Justice Varma, say SC
The Supreme Court on Wednesday orally observed that there was prima facie no bar on the Lok Sabha setting up an inquiry committee to look into corruption charges against Allahabad High Court Justice Yashwant Varma after a similar motion was rejected in the Rajya Sabha, PTI reported.
A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and SC Sharma, however, said that it will examine if the question was so prejudicial to Varma's interests as to warrant the intervention of the court, The Indian Express reported.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Varma challenging the legality of the three-member judicial committee constituted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla under the 1968 Judges Inquiry Act to investigate the impeachment proceedings against him in the unaccounted cash row.
The Allahabad High Court judge had sought to quash Birla's decision to constitute the committee. He had argued that although the notices for his impeachment had been submitted both in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, Birla formed the committee unilaterally without waiting for the admission of the motion by the Upper House chairperson.
Unaccounted cash was allegedly recovered at Varma's official residence in Delhi when emergency services responded to a fire there on March 14. He was a judge at the Delhi High Court at that time. The judge said he was in Bhopal when the cash was discovered and claimed that it did not belong to him or his family.
Amid the row, he was transferred to the Allahabad High Court.
A report of the in-house inquiry committee into the matter, released on May 3, concluded that there was “sufficient substance” in the charges against Varma. It held that the judge's misconduct was “serious enough to call for initiation of proceedings for removal”.
To impeach a judge in Parliament, a removal motion is required to be signed by 100 Lok Sabha MPs or 50 Rajya Sabha MPs. If the motion is admitted in both Houses, a three-member judicial committee investigates the matter. The Parliament votes on the impeachment if the committee finds misconduct. If the motion gets two-thirds of the votes, the president is advised to remove the judge.
On July 25, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the decision to impeach Varma was unanimous and that 152 MPs from the ruling coalition and the Opposition parties had signed the motion.
There is consensus that the removal of Varma should be a joint effort, he had said, adding that the Lok Sabha will take up the proceedings before they move to the Rajya Sabha in line with the Judges Inquiry Act.
However, on August 12, the Lok Sabha speaker formed a three-member committee, comprising Supreme Court Justice Aravind Kumar, Madras High Court Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and advocate B Vasudeva Acharya, to look into the matter.
In November, the committee sought a written statement from Varma on the charges against him. In response, the judge sought authenticated copies of the motions before both the Houses in July and any orders passed consequent to them.
However, the Lok Sabha's secretary general said that the Rajya Sabha had not admitted the impeachment motion, Bar and Bench reported.
During the hearing on Wednesday, advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Varma, said that there were procedural irregularities that vitiated the inquiry proceedings set in motion against the judge by the Lok Sabha speaker.
He added that the “proviso says when notices are given on the same day [in both Houses of Parliament], no committee shall be constituted unless motion is admitted in both the Houses and the speaker forms a joint committee”.
However, an affidavit from the Lok Sabha secretary general in the matter stated that the deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha had rejected the motion on August 11, the advocate added.
“On July 21, the motion was moved,” Bar and Bench quoted Rohatgi as saying. “Chairman resigned in the evening that day. On August 11, the motion was rejected by the deputy chairman.”
The advocate was referring to the resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar as vice president and the Rajya Sabha chairperson on July 21.
In response, the court asked whether any law prevented the Lok Sabha speaker from setting up an investigation committee after the Rajya Sabha chairperson rejected an impeachment motion when such motions are raised in both Houses.
It noted that a joint committee is contemplated only if both Houses admit the impeachment motion, Bar and Bench reported. However, Datta asked what would happen if one motion fails and one succeeds.
“If both Houses admit [the motion], then there is a joint committee,” Bar and Bench quoted the judge as saying. “But if one rejects it, then where is the bar for Lok Sabha to appoint [a probe committee]? If one motion is not accepted, why should the motion of the other House fail?”
Datta also observed that a purposive interpretation of the law was required.
The judge noted that he did not prima facie agree with Rohatgi's argument that an impeachment motion in the Lok Sabha must fail if a similar motion is rejected in the Rajya Sabha, Bar and Bench reported.
During the proceedings, Rohatgi further argued that there was an acknowledgement by the Rajya chairperson of the impeachment motion, adding that he had also stated that proceedings under the Judges Inquiry Act had been triggered, Bar and Bench reported.
The advocate argued that this implied that the motion had been admitted in the Rajya Sabha. Rohatgi added that the deputy chairperson cannot sit over the chairperson's decision in such matters.
The bench listed the matter for further hearing on Thursday, The Indian Express reported.
Earlier, Varma had also challenged the in-house committee report that indicted him in the matter, as well as the recommendation made by Sanjiv Khanna, who was the chief justice of India when the report was submitted to the president and the prime minister to initiate impeachment proceedings against him.
In August, the Supreme Court dismissed both the petitions.
Source: Scroll
Related Posts: BJP Attacks TMC Govt After High Court Fixes Timeline For Indo-Bangladesh Border Fencing Land Handover Relief for Siddaramaiah as court accepts closure report in alleged land scam Why an India court ruling on a 2018 deal is rattling foreign investors UGC did not defend its equity guidelines in court Salman Khan Gets Court Order Barring Abhinav Kashyap From Making Comments Against Him And His Family Salman Khan wins court restraint order against Abhinav Kashyap Supreme Court clarifies GPF nominee rights Mamata Banerjee Files Plea Against Bengal SIR In Supreme Court Sheikh Hasina sentenced to 10 years in jail by Bangladesh court in two corruption cases Mamata Banerjee moves Supreme Court against voter roll revision in Bengal
Digital labour platforms – like fast food delivery and cab hailing services – are having a dramatic impact on people's labour rights and working conditions around the world. In western countries like the UK and the US, their rise has intensified a process of labour casualisation already
3 hours ago
Oppo K14x India Launch: The upcoming model will succeed the Oppo K13x 5G, which was launched in June last year at a starting price of Rs. 11,999 for the 4GB RAM and 128GB storage variant. Oppo K14x India Launch: Chinese smartphone brand Oppo has announced that the Oppo K14x will officially launch
3 hours ago
England wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler etched his name deeper into the record books on Sunday, reaching a major milestone during England's second T20I against Sri Lanka in the ongoing three-match series. England wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler etched his name deeper into the record books on Sunday
3 hours ago
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has dismissed the DMK's allegations that the Bharatiya Janata Party is pressuring actor-turned-politician Vijay to join the NDA, asserting that the ruling party's anxiety itself shows how politically consequential he has become in Tamil Nadu
3 hours ago
Banerjee contended that ongoing SIR will lead to disenfranchisement of lakhs of voters and disrupt the level playing field for parties in elections. She urged the court to direct that polls be held on the basis of rolls prepared last year. New Delhi: Mamata Banerjee has petitioned Supreme Court
3 hours ago
MIAMI (AP) — An arbitrator has decided Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier should be receiving his $26.6 million salary for this season despite being on administrative leave while facing federal gambling-related charges, the National Basketball Players Association said Monday
3 hours ago
Delhi weather today: Delhi residents woke up to low visibility as dense fog enveloped the city on Tuesday morning. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange and red alert for parts of Delhi. IMD in its nowcast warning valid till 9:33 AM stated: “Very Dense Fog very likely
3 hours ago
Twenty years after the original, The Devil Wears Prada 2 reunites Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, and Emily Blunt for a high-stakes fashion world comeback. Washington: Twenty years after 'The Devil Wears Prada' became a cultural touchstone, 20th Century Studios has released the first full trailer for
3 hours ago
The tax holiday announced for data centres in the budget is expected to increase demand for large industrial land parcels, accelerate data centre leasing and campus development, and draw long-term foreign capital into India's industrial and commercial real estate markets
3 hours ago
The developer of Notepad++ has reportedly noted that its software update mechanism was covertly hijacked for several months last year, with evidence suggesting the operation was carried out by a Chinese state sponsored threat group. According to Bleepingcomputer
3 hours ago
The UK on Monday sanctioned 10 individuals, including Iran's interior minister and police chiefs, for their roles in "recent brutality against protesters", the British foreign ministry said. "The Iranian people have shown extreme courage in the face of brutality and repression over recent weeks
3 hours ago
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday told reporters he had “nothing to do with" the late financier Jeffrey Epstein and claimed that newly released Justice Department files showed a conspiracy aimed at damaging him politically and costing him elections
3 hours ago
US President Donald Trump announced that he agreed to a trade deal with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where the US will lower tariffs on goods from India to 18% from 25%. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said India will reduce trade barriers to zero and will also stop buying Russian oil
3 hours ago
China has banned hidden door handles on electric vehicles (EVs), becoming the first country to outlaw the controversial designs that were first popularised by multi-billionaire Elon Musk's Tesla. It comes as EVs are facing scrutiny from safety watchdogs around the world after a spate of deadly
3 hours ago
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead agreed to multiyear contract extensions to stay with the Los Angeles Rams on Monday, extending their successful nine-year partnership. And with his long-term future assured
3 hours ago
Brussels would be "open‑minded" about discussing closer trade ties with the UK, including the possibility of working together on a customs union, the European Commissioner for finance has told the BBC. Valdis Dombrovskis said the bloc was "ready to engage" if the UK wanted to explore the move
3 hours ago
The announcement by US President Donald Trump to cut its reciprocal tariff on Indian goods to 18% marks a meaningful shift in India's export competitiveness. For several Indian export categories, the India-US trade deal is expected to provide a major relief
3 hours ago
Sometimes, even successful careers need a pause button. For R Madhavan, that pause lasted four years and it changed everything. The actor has now spoken openly about why he stepped away from films at the peak of his popularity, admitting that he no longer recognised himself in the work he was doing
3 hours ago
On the morning of January 21, a group of around 70 people stood in front of the Tanot Mata temple in Rajasthan's Jaisalmer district, roughly 30 km away from the India-Pakistan border. After praying at the temple, the group began to beat drums and set off on a long march along the roads of the Thar
3 hours ago
Ranveer Singh's Dhurandhar topped Netflix Pakistan after its OTT release, despite the film being banned theatrically. Ranveer Singh's Dhurandhar's theatrical release was banned in Pakistan. While the movie did amazing numbers at the box office
3 hours ago
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal walked out of a crucial meeting with the Chief Election Commissioner, citing feelings of disrespect and humiliation. She called for an immediate cessation of the ongoing special intensive revision process of electoral rolls
3 hours ago
United States President Donald Trump on Monday said that India and the US had agreed to a trade deal and that he was cutting the so-called reciprocal tariffs imposed on New Delhi to 18% from 25% with immediate effect. The announcement came after Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on
3 hours ago
A Lok Bhavan official in Itanagar said on Monday that towering at 22,831 feet above sea level, Mount Aconcagua is the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere and a formidable challenge even for seasoned mountaineers. This remarkable achievement marks yet another milestone in Yano's extraordinary
3 hours ago
ISRO plans another PSLV rocket launch in June. This follows two recent mission failures. Minister Jitendra Singh stated sabotage is not suspected. He assured that reasons for the failures were different. ISRO has set up committees to analyze the issues
3 hours ago
During the visit, Jaishankar will also meet senior members of the US administration. Details of those meetings were not disclosed yet. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar arrived in New York on Monday for a three-day official visit to the United States focused on cooperation in critical minerals
3 hours ago
Robotaxi pioneer Waymo has raised another $16 billion to help fuel its ambition for its fleet of self-driving cars to provide rides throughout the world while other deep-pocketed rival services backed by Tesla and Amazon try to catch up. The fundraising announced Monday values Waymo at $126 billion
3 hours ago
According to the police, they first considered giving Prachi up for adoption, but dropped the plan since it would not have solved the problem, she would still have been officially recorded as his child in the birth certificate. A 28-year-old man from Maharashtra allegedly murdered one of his three
3 hours ago
